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Irrespective of the number of employees a company has, leading them can be a challenge. After all, everyone has a different temperament, which can lead to clashes within the team. Miscommunication is a major cause of reduced productivity. A healthy work-life balance and good company culture also plays a crucial role in encouraging employees to give their best. Nevertheless, there are times when your team feels demotivated under work pressure. The responsibility to motivate the team and keep working towards a common goal, therefore, falls upon the manager, or leader.
Keep reading to learn how to take your workplace productivity to a whole new level, irrespective of the current scenario within your team.
4 Ways to Boost Your Team’s Productivity
Some things can encourage your team members to perform better. Read on to learn about them.
1. Set Clear Communication Expectations
When it comes to increasing team productivity, communication plays a large role. No business can succeed without an effective exchange of ideas and information between team members. Therefore, the project manager must promote effective communication within the team and help each team member understand their respective responsibilities to avoid confusion.
By encouraging clear communication about each other’s needs, expectations, and areas of conflict, you also encourage self-regulation and the acquisition of better self-knowledge. This is also a great way to cut down on any hostility as deadlines approach.
2. Create a Stress-Free Work Environment
Workplace environment and infrastructure contribute hugely to your team’s efficiency. A stress-free office, for instance, leads to increased productivity. Everything from the physical setting to the emotional environment, can impact how well your team works. Other factors, such as a domineering boss, condescending employees and office politics, can damage the productivity and efficiency of your organization.
Another factor to remember is that longer working weeks do not ensure higher productivity. According to the OECD, workers in countries like Mexico, South Korea and Greece work the most hours per year, amounting to more than 2,000 hours on average. When it comes to evaluating labour productivity and efficiency, the OECD uses GDP per hour as a measure. However, if you look at the GDP per hour worked in 2017 it was only $21.6 in Mexico, $37 in South Korea, and $38.9 in Greece. Therefore, setting attainable goals, properly guiding employees to make their deadlines and encouraging them to maintain a work-life balance is key to better productivity.
Other than work pressure, there are other things, such as the physical work setting, that impact the workplace. Nowadays, many organizations pay attention to lighting and furniture layout when designing their office interiors.
3. Implement Team Building Exercises
Team members who get along and are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses make the workplace a happier space. As mentioned earlier, happier team members ensure better team productivity and increased efficiency.
You may wonder about our emphasis of this point. The truth is that co-workers will not always be fond of each other. By incorporating certain fun team-building exercises into your workplace, you can eliminate animosity.
These activities also push team members to take an interest in each other personally which can result in better quality work. Other benefits include increased morale and motivation, better collaboration and higher job satisfaction which also encourages employee creativity.
4. Praise Effort and Provide Incentives
Employees work better when you give them a reason to. Everyone wants to be appreciated, and if the appreciation comes in the form of monetary gain, then it just sweetens the deal. Think of it like a virtual pat on the back from their bosses. Implementing programs such as incentives, free vouchers, paid vacation, extra time off and lunches out can prove motivational. Even something as small as praising their efforts to complete a task can go a long way towards motivating your workers.
In the end, your team’s productivity depends on a lot of factors and there is no single way to empower them to be more efficient. However, by applying these small changes constantly, you can build a stronger foundation for a more productive environment. Remember that constant support, feedback and encouragement is key to increasing team productivity.
